Eric and I went to the Urban Harvest farmers market over the weekend, which was good; we were overdue! We stocked up on enough meat to last us for two weeks, plus picked up two yummy breads, eggs, and Brussels sprouts. Here’s our meal plan for this week.
Breakfasts
Nothing too special in this area! However, I feel compelled to mention that last night I read an article about cooking bacon perfectly so I put it into practice this morning (by letting the bacon sit out and then putting it on a room temperature griddle) and…huge improvement! Try it!
Lunches
Leftovers, per usual.
Dinners
Beer brats with Brussels sprouts and buttered bread
Grilled steak with Brussels sprouts and bread
Grilled BBQ chicken + vegetables + bread
Hamburgers + vegetables
Pesto chicken pasta + Caesar salads
Pizza + Caesar salads
It’s a lot of the usual suspects this week, but, well, you’re going to have that sometimes.
Workouts
Well, I missed a day of my heart and hip opening challenge last week. I think I fell asleep at like 8:00 or something and then, after waking up briefly around 10:00, was kind of disoriented and over it. Ah well. I feel like the challenge is progressing quite well otherwise. While I’d really like to focus on getting my hips to square in Warrior I for the remainder of the challenge (because whyyyyyyy won’t they?!), I’m excited about the fact that I’m finally able to do a strong crescent lunge!
Aside from the missed yoga session, I hit my other fitness goals: three longer workouts (three yoga sessions plus a walk) and lots of hip and heart openers on the other days. I didn’t go to any workout classes, but I’m proud of myself for at least trying two new yoga podcasts last week; I’m a creature of habit, so mixing it up like that is always a little challenge for me.
This week is looking like it will be much of the same: lots of yoga and three longer workouts. I realized over the weekend that I’m in kind of a “Just be happy you’re showing up” phase. Over the weekend, I was kind of beating myself up for not being more adventurous with my workouts, but I realized that yoga works for me and going above and beyond just isn’t my priority right now. Maybe I’ll make that a March goal? Or…September? Ish?
Hope you’re having a great Presidents’ Day! Any good meals or workouts on the agenda this week?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I hear ya on the “just be happy you showed up” thing. Transitioning to my first nursing job this year has been rough on my workouts. Being on my feet all day just leaves me exhausted and it takes a lot of effort to get to the gym. I try not to beat myself up though, and try to get in decent workouts on my days off, and pride myself on doing any extra physical activity on work days!
Your hips will never truly be square in W1, but here are a few assists to move in that direction:
-Put a little bit of lateral space between your two feet
-Ground firmly into the outer edge of your back foot, and rotate your back hip around from that press
-Back off a bit on the depth of the bend in your front knee
#nosyyogateacher :)
Thanks for this! I feel like I’m barely lunging and that my feet are pretty wide, but I will pay more attention to your second suggestion! Any suggestions for other hip openers that might help with this pose? I feel like pigeon isn’t doing it. I’d love other ideas if you have any!
My workouts have been a bit wonky the past week and a half. We’re getting into training for the relay, and I seem to have done something to the nerve in my right elbow (injury 13 weeks before the wedding? Frightening).
Foodstuffs this week will be wonky due to a lot of schedule craziness this week.
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Do you practice double pigeon (aka ankle-to-knee; aka fire log pose)? That opens the outer hip in a slightly different way than regular old eka pada raja kapotasana. Also gomukasana. For a super intense hip opening sequence, go from pigeon to double pigeon to gomukasana, then do the other side.
If it’s your hip flexors that seem tight, try anjaneyasana (lunge with the back knee down). Skip your back knee farther back in space (pad up with a blanket or fold over your mat if your knee is sensitive) and lift your lower belly to avoid “crunching” in your lower back as you descend your back thigh like it wants to rest all the way down on the floor.
If those aren’t working for you, email me, and I can help you design a sequence based on what you are looking for! Freerangelettuce at gmail dot com
This is SO helpful! I’ve actually been doing double pigeon a lot more just to mix things up, so I’ll keep that up and try the sequence you recommended. Also, anjaneyasana has become one of my favorite poses! The Forrest podcast that I do regularly includes it as part of the flow and it has made me fall in love with it.
Thanks again!
Looks like you already got some great tips on Warrior I. My hips definitely don’t square fully in that pose, but then I have chronic hip issues so I can’t stress about it. I have found that pressing through the pinky-toe-side edge of my back foot make the pose feel great, so I focus on that plus on pulling my front hip back (instead of pushing the back hip forward, if that makes sense). Lifting out of the lower back during Warrior I gives me more room for my hips, too.
I love crescent lunge too; my hip flexors always thank me for that one. But in my head, I hear the sanskrit as “On Johnny” asana. Makes me giggle!
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